Wednesday 2 April 2014

Layla - Smokestacks


What with making up false bands that record in sound free studios before releasing albums that disintegrate after just one listen for April Fools Day as well as breaking our own maximum two blog posts a day rule because there’s just too much good music out there, we’ve also overlooked a number of songs that in the normal scheme of things would have found their way immediately onto the blog.

One of those is from the rather adorable Layla. Whilst she’s has been releasing music for some time now (both under the name Layla and her real name previous to that) it’s taken new song Smokestacks to generate blog interest a-plenty. If she’s new to you may we recommend earlier songs New Year, Oh My Love and Winter, You Tease - one of the few Christmas tunes it’s OK to play the rest of the year as well - all of which we’ve featured over the last fifteen months on Breaking More Waves.

Whereas some of Layla’s previous music has often been the musical equivalent of a warm hug under a soft duvet, Smokestacks is stronger, bolder and more assertive. It's the kind of song that if it were a person would gaze smoulderingly at you for a while, before striding over, grab your arm and take you home to their place for the night with no questions asked. From its opening gentle piano loop, through its lyrical referencing of precious stones and metals (we spotted azure, jet, emarald and gold) to its sturdy climax Smokestacks shows that Layla has versatility as well as the ability to pen a tune and a half. It promises well for her new EP, entitled Black Mud, which is released on April 28th.

Layla - Smokestacks

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